38 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



April. 



ey for barely 10 days, gave us average of about 

 35 lbs. from 57 colonies, which paid for all 

 care and a comfortable percentage on the 

 amount of capital invested besides. 



THE STANDARD HIVE AIVI> FRAME. 



<~J T RANGE it is, but scarcely a new thing 

 Ey^) comes up in bee culture, but that if we 

 examine carefully, we will tind somewhere a 

 record of where our old friend Langstroth has 

 been over the same ground before us. Even 

 now we have just called to mind a pleasant 

 correspondence that passed between us just 

 before the time of our mutual friend Wagners 

 death when Mr. L. was in Washington. The 

 correspondence originated from sending Mr. L. 

 one of our new frames. We were then consid- 

 ering a 12 x : 12 frame. We extract from differ- 

 ent letters as follows: 



Washington, Apr. 4th, 1872. 



DEAR FRIEND :— I hope yon will try the 12x12- 

 buc 1 have years ago tried such frames and do not like 

 them— too much cost to make, handle, etc. 1 think 

 the Hive 11 x ii and 13 deep nmeii better, and shall 

 probably adopt that shape, as the honey emptier and 

 bide boxes make it no longer so desirable to have a 

 shallow hive. 



April 5th, You will see from my last that I propose 

 to .change the dimensions of my frame, perhaps there 

 will not be much to choose between the hive 11 x 14 x 13 

 and 12x l^x Li, but 1 prefer the hist, i much prefer ten 

 frames to 1-. 



Here comes a reply to some queries of ours 

 in regard to the Simplicity hive which then 

 '•tilled our head ;" also as to confining the bees 

 to a single story aud using the Ext. on friend 

 Dean's plan, see page 55, Vol. 1. 



If you refer to Fig. (1) P. 20, (my book) you will see 

 that 1 used an open oox. Try some on this new plan, 

 but let me strongly caution you not to go into it large- 

 ly. You will never like the movable U. 1». you will 

 linl it an intolerable nuisance, there is not time to go 

 into the reasons, but you will nnd 1 am right. Under 

 some circumstances perhaps as much could be emp- 

 tied from a single, as from a double hive, but it cuts 

 too close. Too little room room lor brood, we want the 

 bees to get the set of frames pretty well idled with the 

 sealed honey— not safe to go on any other plan, their 

 own first, unless we take about all of the nest and re- 

 place with sugar syrup, this may pay with present 

 prices. 



April 10th.— By carefully calculating the difference 

 between 12 x 12 x 12, and 14 x 14 x 13, 1 find that ten 

 lrames of the latter r-i/.o*f hive, will have nearly as 

 much coinu surface as thirteen 'of the 'former. Aow 

 take into fair account the extra cost and time ol hand- 

 ling, the fact that in poor seasons the more frames, 

 tne more the honey is scattered etc., and 1 feel sure 

 you will not adopt the' smaller si/.e. i hope that you 

 will make one hive of my new Size. 



April 23rd.— i Know that you and those with you, 

 can not only bear plain criticism but desire it. .Let 

 me remind you how apt we are to let an idea run 

 away with us. When we get a good thing we are 

 almost sure to run some parts of it into the ground; 

 it seems to me that you are in danger of doing this in 

 I wo things, the one I have just mentioned, and tiie 

 dispensing with the lixed bottom board. When you 

 have fairly worked it out, summered it and wintered 

 it, I feel very confident that you will come to the con- 

 clusion 1 reached 20 years ago. While you try it in 

 your Apiary, lee me advise you not to recommend it 

 in the public, until you have put it to the test in your 

 own Apiary. 1 tniiik our leading Apiarians should 

 be very chary of recommending what they have Dot 

 tested; often, suggestions from such parties, lead to 

 rash adoption of thein, and serious Injury to non-ex- 

 perts, when l was most largely engaged in experi- 

 menting, 1 found it to be a good plan to give my 

 notions to friends, thai together we might work them 

 out. They having no paternal interest in the notions, 

 arc more likelv perhaps than myself, to see in them 

 only conceits. But enough of this, 1 hope that you 

 Will understand what 1 am aiming at. 



L. L. Langstroth, 



It seems to us that we have scarcely a read- 

 er who can fail to see the rare good sense that 

 shines in every line of the above. 



After reading it again, we have the same 

 feeling that we had two years ago; that we 

 were utterly incompetent to advise in regar 1 

 to a hive that will be best, all things consider- 

 ed, for the coming generation of Bee Keepers. 

 Of one thing we are sure however, and that is, 

 that the plainer and simpler it is, the better. 

 That the Simplicity hive will give equally as 

 good yields of honey as the more complicated 

 and costly hives has been abundantly proven, 

 and were we going to use a two story hive we 

 should most assuredly use a movable bottom 

 board, and precisely the hive we advised last 

 season. In regard to the size of the frame, it 

 seems our friend Langstroth had anticipate I 

 as usual, the fact that a different shape might 

 be better when we considered a hive suitable 

 for the Ext. only, and the dimensions of a 

 frame for the hive he suggests would be very 

 nearly the one we are now talking of for a 

 Standard. 



Now we have ample evidence that as much 

 honey can be secured with frames a little deep- 

 er, spread horizontally ; and the advantages of 

 such a hive for the extractor are too obvious 

 to need mention. We believe we have only 

 then to consider the subject of wintering; one 

 plan that will certainly answer is given by 

 friend Palmer, page 20, and another is our 

 present "hobby"' of the stable manure. 



That a few inches of chaff, straw, or old 

 clothing, around a hive is no positive protec- 

 tion, we think is generally admitted, and unless 

 we can give a colony a place that will keep 

 fruit or potatoes from freezing, they had much 

 better be on their summer stands. We wish 

 some one who has had a positive experience in 

 the matter would tell us how much manure 

 would have to be heaped over a bushel of po- 

 tatoes, heaped up directly on the ground, to 

 keep them from freezing. Such a place, and 

 such a temperature, from what we can gather 

 from many experiments, reported from differ- 

 ent points, would seem to be most desirable 

 for bees to winter. 



Having an entrance continually open on the 

 south side would tend to make the bees colder 

 than the potatoes, but on the other hand we 

 have their own animal heat, to balance this 

 disadvantage. A covering of earth would do 

 of course, if thick enoughfto prevent frost pen- 

 etrating, but having no source of heat within 

 itself like the manure, and being so heavy to 

 handle we must consider it out of the question. 

 From what experience we have had we would 

 feel safe to risk the bees under, half a wagon 

 load to each hive; we would feed them meal at 

 any time during the winter should opportunity 

 i oiler. 



It has been often objected, that they would 

 \ fly out and get lost during unseasonable weath- 

 er, to which we answer, they have as yet done 

 ! nothing of the kind. They sometimes come to 

 ' the entrance and look out, as much as to say 

 "aint we nice in here?" and again they tip 

 their heads on one side to observe the sun and 

 j clouds seemingly, but don't go out unless the 

 weather is such they can readily get back. 

 Remember no breath of wind touches them 

 Whatever may be its force or torn; erature. 



